


And We Will Always Be The Same

by senwe



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-03-19
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-18 16:26:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 7,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3576099
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senwe/pseuds/senwe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is a place to dump all the drables I'm doing to get used again to writing fics. Inspired by prompts received or random ideas. SoMa centered. Rating may vary. Last update: Soul finally agrees to visit his family on Christmas and Maka accompanies him for moral support</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> First of the drabbles. Inspired by a prompt I found in my computer. This is so short I barely know how to make a summary of it.  
> Warning: Implied mayor charater death.

Maka and flowers weren’t two things that went together most of the time. Sure she liked them and she even had her own pot in their apartment where she took care of some of them, but she had never followed the trend of wearing them as a crown, or bought clothes with patterns of them (at least not too many). If he had to be honest, Soul though the last time he had seen her with so many flowers was after fighting Arachne for the first time, when Crona made sure to surround her with them.

It had been funny at the time even if he had to take care of her (which he didn’t actually minded too much, but had to keep the cool façade) and now he wished this was a similar situation. Yet there he was, and there she was, and all the things he had always longed to say weighted too much.

Like in another world, he barely recognized the pats and words his friends said, barely registered part of Kidd’s speech, his gaze fixed on her face, her eyes, her hair, her gentle smile… And wished it wouldn’t have been like this, but now is too late, and he’s supposed to go on with his life when she was the one who brought it to him.

Finally the ceremony is over, and the coffin where she is surrounded by flowers is closed and soon under the ground. Slowly, all the attendance begins to leave. Their closest friends tried to convince him to go with them, but he refused, saying that he needed some time alone.

Sitting on the ground he slowly caressed one of the flowers and, lifting his gaze to the sky (he couldn’t look at the tombstone, not yet), let the tears fall.


	2. Idiot

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I honestly don’t know what to think about it. Except that slowly every prompt is becoming shorter and shorter.

“Oh my Death, Soul. I can’t believe it.” Maka’s voice breathy, her surprise clear on her tone. Soul just set on shrugging and sending her a half smirk under the layers and layers of dirt that covered them, hoping that his death wouldn’t be too painful.

“What on Earth did he say to convince you?” She asked, divided between chopping him for his stupidity or laugh at his sight (seeing Soul covered in the remains of embers and dust was a sight to behold).

“It was a cool plan.” Was his only explanation, and the meister was really tempted to chop him, because getting fireworks from doubtful origin and light them while the city was in an extremely well-timed blackout, without really knowing how, and what was more, with Black*Star being one of the ones lighting them up was really really far from her definition of ‘cool’. However the sight of them lightning up the sky along with the stars had really been amazing, so just for this one she decided to let it go, sighing as she bopped him gently with her book.

“Idiot.”


	3. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Soul finally agrees to visit his family on Christmas and Maka accompanies him for moral support.  
> Rated: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so I’m actually quite happy with how long this is, not so sure about the way I protrayed the characters, so as always feedback is really really appreciated.

Soul was positively sulking, muttering curses under his breath as he glared through the window, as if the sky was the one responsible for what he was about to go through, even if he had no one to blame but himself and both Wes and Maka who somehow managed to convince him (damn puppy eyes and good reasoning).

Next to him Maka was engrossed on her book, long ago giving up on cheering him up, deciding instead to enjoy the trip and let him to his brooding. As the air hostess told them to fasten their belts she finally let her reading aside and turned to him.

“You know that over thinking about it is not going to help, just accept it and face it. Besides is not like we are going to fight Asura.”

“I’d prefer him.” He muttered under his breath as he buckled up, however Maka managed to hear him.

“Don’t be over dramatic, is just four days, you won’t die, and I’ll be there to give moral support.”

To that he was thankful. He didn’t think he would be able to do this otherwise. It had passed a lot of time since the last time he actually saw his parents, and even if there had been the typical courtesy calls on birthdays and Christmas, they had been more and more sporadic with time, partially because he and Maka where now quite busy and because he didn’t feel comfortable with them. But, as Wes had pointed out in a long call a few weeks ago, the longer he waited to visit, the more awkward it would get, something that Maka totally backed up and he admitted deep deep inside him he knew they were right. And that was how he had been convinced to visit his family.

In the process of getting off the plane and getting their luggage he almost managed to convince himself that this was just another mission, a nasty one, but nothing else than that. He really needed to distance himself from reality if he planned on surviving this. However, as they crossed the gates to the lobby and saw a familiar blonde head he was brought back to the earth. Groaning internally, because of course his brother would come to pick them up (though he was glad it was him and not their parents) he lead the way.

“Wes.”

“Soul. Is good to see you again.” And judging but the smile on his face, Wes was indeed pleased to see him. “And you must be Maka, right?” He added turning to her.

“Yes. I’m Soul’s meister. Nice to meet you.” She answered shaking his hand. They had talked a couple times but never actually seen each other.

“Master? Wow Soul, I didn’t know you were into that.” Maka spluttered flustered and he groaned, fighting the urge to facepalm himself, or even better, Wes. Besides, he didn’t really know where his and Maka relationship was at the moment, there had been glances that were far from platonic and a lot of couch snuggling that half the time transformed in cluddling, but not of them had dared to give a name to what they had and he was quite lost.

“Wes. You know exactly what she said, so stop fooling around.”

“As nice as ever I see. C’mon I’ve got the car in the parking, I’ll take you both to the house.”

Most part of the trip was silent, partially because they were tired after a nine hours flight, partially because all the attempts Wes made at conversation were answered with a grunt from him, which caused Maka to glare at him asking him to behave, for Death’s sake it was his brother, who he hasn’t seen in years, and yes, as much as he tried to deny it, she knew he had missed him, so the least he could do was to behave. God, it was like he could read her mind. However she soon got distracted by the snow, as if she had never seen it before, and he got distracted watching her like an idiot with a small smile on his lips, completely oblivious of the glances his brother shot from the driving seat.


	4. Books

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: A letter has Maka feeling down, and Soul thinks he had found a way to cheer her up. Medieval AU.  
> Ratted: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thanks to izanagitherussianmaid (tumblr) for betaing and correcting all my mistakes. Secondly, this is one of the prompts that inspired SB (which I should really keep working on)

It wasn’t as if Soul was unfamiliar with them, hell, he grew surrounded by thousands of them that told the story of his family, their country, of heroes long ago forgotten, myths and legends. But he was unfamiliar with the excitement books caused on his travel partner. Though the mystery got a bit solved when she explained that she was an architect or, at least, had the knowledge to be one, since no one would hire a woman to build a shack, let’s not talk about cathedrals. Ah, but she had already proved how intelligent she actually was, so one night in which they couldn’t sleep she had admitted that she found a way to solve that: her father was the one who officially took the work, and while he was passed out, drinking and with not-too-desirable company, she was the one who actually made it; it wasn’t a perfect arrangement, since Maka loathed that side of him, but it was the closer she knew she would ever have.

And that was how Soul found himself returning to the inn they were staying in for the night, carrying three thick tomes that he hoped she liked. Maka had been feeling quite down lately, he suspected that because of the content of a letter she received a week ago, and he somehow felt the need to cheer her up, even if he knew it wasn’t in his best interest. Hell, why did he even have to care about her?! Well, not care, but he felt somehow responsible of her, being her partner in their trip and all that… Yeah, that was it. He was just making sure she regained her good mood so the trip wouldn’t be a pain in the ass. Absolutely.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, (why was he even nervous in the first place?!) he knocked on her door and opened it carefully when she said so.

“Hey. I got you something.” Soul showed the books, and Maka’s eyes soon focused on them, her expression morphing from puzzlement, to excitement. He put them on the table, next to her, and she practically pounced on them, only to take them carefully and open them one by one to investigate a bit of their content. That was the moment Soul felt the knot on his stomach; he wasn’t sure if the ones he chose were the right ones, knowing so little about her. One was about architecture, an old book a peasant had found on a house he had received in heritance and decided to sell, not really knowing it’s value; the second was about the history of a faraway land he was positive she hadn’t read, but still didn’t know if she would like; and the third collected myths and legends of centuries ago. He couldn’t get his eyes from her face, trying to gauge her reaction. “You seemed quite gloomy since you received that letter, and, well, you are a bookworm so I thought….” Why did he think this was a good idea again? He hadn’t felt this nervous since the last time he saw his parents, and that couldn’t be a good signal.

But when she practically threw herself to him he realized that maybe it hadn’t been a bad idea after all. “Thanks a lot, Soul. You didn’t need to.” She said hugging him for a moment, only to let go of him and focus again on the books, her eyes shining despite the dark circles under her eyes and a wide smile on her face.

“Heh, it was nothing.” Yep. It definitely had been a good idea.


	5. Water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: After finding a lake, Soul and Maka decide to take advantage of it and wash themselves properly. Medieval AU.  
> Rated: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set in the same AU as the last one, this drabble came to me as soon as I read the prompt.

It had been weeks since they found a creek big enough to take a proper bath, so when they stumbled upon the lake they shared a look and started unpacking, letting their bags on a clear big enough to camp. With a gesture Soul motioned Maka to start bathing as he checked the surroundings to get enough dry branches to start a fire for the night and, as he was at it, watched her back as she went behind some bushes to get rid of her clothes.

He tried to focus on the task at hand, not wanting the fire to get out of hand, but found himself remembering small peeks he had of her during their trip and fighting the urge to join her. No. They still had a long way ahead, and didn’t exactly had time for distractions. Besides, she had made it crystal clear that all men were pigs, and the only reason she was travelling with him was because they were going to the same place and it was always better to be accompanied.

Once Maka came back, hair dripping wet and drenching her blouse, she soon got over his chore, finishing cleaning the rabbits they hunt in the morning as he followed her path to the bushes before finally head jumping into the water. As he broke the water surface again to get some air, Soul passed a hand through his hair to get it out of his face. A wide smirk appeared on his face, it was true that they had a long way ahead of them, but he sure as hell was going to have a good time riling up that little feisty woman whose path got mixed with his.


	6. Sick

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Claustrophobia was a constant in his life, so he decided to run away from it.  
> Rated: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Once again in the same verse as Water and Books, though this piece is pre any of both. For this one I didn’t even proof read, so my sincerest apologies if you see any mistake feel free to tell me about them with an ask or anything, I’d really apreciate it, I just wanted to finish it soon, since it had been sitting forever on my writing folder.

Claustrophobic. That was how Soul would call the tight feeling in his chest. It didn’t matter that the castle he lived in was one of the biggest, the tallest tower reaching over the clouds on foggy days, the gardens explendid and vast, full of plants many people hadn’t even heard of, situated on a high position, where only sitting outside the main gates allowed you to see far behind the city they protected. Maybe some of the rooms did had that effect on him, but it was mostly because of the memories they contained.

The music room was one of them. Probably the one that made that feeling increase the most.

He just had to be born in one of the noble families, and in the one that had a great history with music, each and everyone of the family members knowing how to play at least one instrument.

It didn’t make sense, and Soul could name more than ten things that were way more practical than learning music, but, as his instructor said, it had nothing to do with how practical it may be, and more with traditions and respect for your own family. Not like he had any problem with that, he understood the need to know about your past and respect your elders (now if he didn’t show it often— well, no one could blame him for being good at replying at snippy statements). No, his problem was the fact that his family didn’t seem to know how to deal with him. He wasn’t his brother and he wasn’t sure what were they even expecting from him. He would try to behave, even if being courteous was definitely not his forte, even if his music was dark and scared everyone away, even if he would rather been alone instead of in one of the parties held at court.

What else did they even expect from him? He couldn’t change who he was, he knew, he had tried. He couldn’t be more social, he couldn’t stand small talk, he couldn’t and wouldn’t deal with all the gossiping and he could definitely not stand most of the people his parents were acquaintances with.

He needed a break. A full break, away from everything and everyone. Or else… He didn’t even know what would happen otherwise. So even being sure that his request wouldn’t be even considered, his parents always wanting him close so he could learn from Wes, his older brother, and they could watch over him to cover any disaster he could make, he asked to go on a trip. Soul draped his intentions with mature and sensitive reasons, trying, as much as he detested it, to sound like the oldest of the siblings: it would be nice for him, he would meet new people, he would understand the peasants needs and request that would prepare him for the moment in which he would have his own land, he would learn new cultures, which would help him in case any noble family from other countries came to visit, he would earn experience dealing with people and how to fend for himself.

Three days later his parents announced that they agreed with him, and he had the free to go wherever he wanted on the condition they knew the route he would follow and received letters from him at least twice every fortnight. He couldn’t believe it, and he still didn’t until he found himself sitting on his horse and leaving the walls that had seen him grow.


	7. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: The hardest part was accepting it. Warning mayor character death.  
> Ratted: K

“You need to move on.”

Liz sat next to him on the cliff he had found. He liked it there, mostly because people didn’t usually come to bother him. It seemed like he needed to find a new place.

“I don’t want to.”

He was being childish and he knew it, but he didn’t care.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, I stated a fact. You need to, Soul.” He felt the desperation on her voice and felt guilt crawling up his spine. How long has it been since he talked with his friends? How long has it been since he started wandering around Death City? He knew the answer to his question, but still was unable to tell how many days had passed.

“Soul.” Her hand on his shoulder startled him, and he begrudgingly turned to face her. “You cannot let this take you down. I know is hard. I do know it. But you have to heal.”

“I just need time.” He grunted, forcing his head back towards the sky.

“You were given time. We had given you more than enough time. But we are not going to lay back and just watch you die with her.”

Wouldn’t it be easier that way? After all he had only been a weapon, and he couldn’t function without his wielder. She had been his purpose. His light. She had guided him, assuring him that he deserved better. He obviously didn’t.

Soul didn’t realize he had said that out loud until he felt the force of Liz’s punch in the face. On others circumstances he would have made a note of trying to avoid being hit by her again, now he just let her grab him by the collar of his t-shirt and make him face her.

“Don’t you dare.” She practically spat. “You said she guided you, right? Are you gonna throw all her effort away? Are you gonna let all she did be forgotten? Really?”

“You are not helping, Liz.” He wriggled out and got up, ready to leave. It truly wasn’t helping, and all he needed was to get away. He hadn’t felt like this since before arriving to Death City, and even then it had been better. He haven’t had to live with the constant pain of her absence.

“You have to accept she’s dead.” Came Liz’s voice from behind him, obviously not ready to leave the topic yet.

“A bit hard when I still leave in our apartment.” And in the same building. And in the same street. And in the same city. Her ghost seemed to be everywhere, a constant reminder of his pain.

“Knowing it doesn’t mean accepting it.”


	8. Language Shenanigans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Person A learning Person B’s native language (or a language they’re fluent in) from an unreliable source. Instead of saying basic greeting words or polite conversational phrases, they full on end up proudly declaring the dirtiest, raunchiest sexual statements in the whole dictionary.  
> Ratted: T for suggesting themes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a prompt given by l0chn3ss on tumblr and it was written in under an hour so I'm pretty sure there are some mayor mistakes in here somewhere. Also, I might do this with Wes teaching Maka incorrect Italian and she spluttering something she should not say in front of Soul and Wes's parents, because the idea came halfway through this.

In theory it had been a good idea. Learning Japanese to understand Maka a bit better could definitely not be translated into a bad idea. Even if she grew up in Death City, her mother has made a great impact in her life, and as such, she held Japan and it’s culture quite close.  
Now, what had been a bad idea was asking for help, instead of just googling the phrases. Because when Tsubaki had offered to teach him, how couldn’t he agree? How could he suspect her? He should have known better.  
The worst, perhaps, was not noticing at first.  
Soul had thought that the red that tinted her cheeks was just because of the surprise (and perhaps because she found it cute? He hoped she did), not because he had said how much he enjoys eating her out instead of “good morning” as he had thought.  
Still, it wasn’t until a few days later when he started to suspect something was wrong.  
Her face never ceased to be red whenever he spoke, and in a couple occasions Maka had literally jumped on him, whispering things in Japanese he certainly had no idea what they meant, but Death they sounded good. And he never ended up disappointed. Nah, the problem was when he started to catch patterns of his own phrases on what she murmured from time to time while they were on the bed (or the couch, or the kitchen, or the bathroom…).  
He tried to brush it off, Japanese had a limited range of sounds, so it was easy to get some words mixed up, most of all with that long o that was giving him hell. But the doubt was still there. Even if it was Tsubaki he was learning from. Sweet, caring Tsubaki who wouldn’t harm a fly…  
Yet, the more closely he listened, the more he seemed to get some parallelisms and the bigger his suspicious became. Almighty Google by his side, one afternoon he decided to check what was he actually saying.  
He truly didn’t know if he should have done that or not. Some phrases were iroquois enough (“I love you”, “your eyes are beautiful”, “I’m lucky to have met you”…), other not so much (“I want to eat you out”, “let’s have some fun in the bedroom”…), and then there were those that just reading them made him turn as scarlet as his eyes because he was definitely not able to say that in English, and would most likely never said that if he knew what he was doing.  
"Explain." He deadpanned on the phone as soon as Tsubaki got it.  
"I don’t know what you are-"  
"Explain why suddenly a woman raised in Japan got mixed all the greetings and basic conversation phrases and what you’d say to your lover." He cringed at the thought. At least that was a good way to put it.  
"Uuh- Well, you see- A couple weeks before you asked me to teach you I talked with Blair, and well, she told me a couple interesting things that-" Tsubaki’s voice was softer than usual, a bit unsure, but it was the last sentence that caught his attention.  
"What interesting things?"  
"Uh- I think you should talk with Maka about that- Anyway, the thing is that she gave me some information and might have proposed a deal with me- And then you came asking to learn Japanese, and, well, you know how that went…"  
"Wait, wait, wait, you mean to tell me that Maka has a kink for dirty talking, real dirty talking, and Blair found out somehow, and told you? And what kind of deal are you talking about?” There was way too much information to process at once. First of all because, wow, he didn’t think Maka liked that. And secondly because, how on earth did Blair found out to begin with, and why did she want to get into their sex life, bribing Tsu on her way?  
"Perhaps. Maybe. You should really talk with her. And I don’t think you really want to know about what she proposed…" He didn’t need to see her to know how red she had to be at the moment.  
"No, you are right, if it involves you and Star and certain levels of nakedness I do not need to know about it."  
At the other end of the line the fellow weapon let some kind of eep, and he was about to hung up when her voice stopped him.  
"But Soul, if you want I can start teaching you actual Japanese. As well as those phrases."  
It didn’t take him even a second to ponder about it. “I’m cool with it as long as you don’t keep mixing things.”  
Well, it seemed he was going to have an interesting conversation with his partner.


	9. Cat Problems

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary:"Please do something about your cat it keeps breaking into my apartment via the windows and I don't know how. Plus it knows how to open fridges."  
> Ratted: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on a prompt found on tumblr.

The cherry on the cake of the shitty day Soul Evans had was arriving home and finding his fridge in a total mess. Again.

And he knew who was the culprit.

It definitely wasn't the first time he came home to find the carton of mil on the floor, part of its content spilled into a puddle, various leftovers surrounding it, and the contents of the fridge in the same state as if they had been run over a car.

At first he thought some burglar stopped by to make a snack on their way out. But after checking all his possessions he didn't miss anything, and the relieve made him not be too bothered by it.

Not a weekd after that he found the exact same scenario. Nothing had been touched but the fridge contents. And Soul started to grow suspicious. He changed the lock, just in case, and made sure to close every possible way in when he left. Still, nothing seemed to stop whichever force had decided to ravish his started toying with the ide of setting a camera when he met face to face with the cause.

It happened after a night out with his friends, in which he drunk a bit too much, and made him sleep a bit longer than usual (not that he was a morning person in the first place).

Something similar to a glass breaking woke him up, and he was about to forget about it and go back to sleep when he heard noises. That were obviously coming from his apartment.

That sobered him up quite fast.

Praying that he was just sleeping or had misheard he cautiously moved around his home. It really wasn't that big, and it took him no time to find out where the noises came from. The kitchen.

Even more aware now he tried to sharpened his senses. As much as he could after just waking up from partying all night, at least.

Now, his cautiousness became puzzlement as soon as he reached the kitchen. There was no one there. But the noises where still going on, coming from the fridge. There couldn't be rats on the building, could they?

Inch by inch, as slow as he could to not scare whatever was inside, he opened the appliance and faced a ball of fur that shifted to face him.

A cat.

It was a cat.

That probably belonged to some of his neighbours. And was a little shit. Or starved, but its size didn't give that impression.

He took it with care —last thing he wanted was to was get a swipe from it— and put it on the floor. He had been lucky and the worst that had happened was a broken beer.

"Godamnit, at least I stopped you this time." Soul grumbled, the pieces of glass weren't that many or that small which helped cleaning.

After moping the liquid away, all the while checking the cat form the corner of his eye so it wouldn't do more messes, he glared at it, pondering his choices.  
On the one hand, it definitely didn't seem hungry. After its incursion to the fridge had been interrupted it had settled on grooming itself, and looked at him with relaxed eyes.

Soul knew he could go door to door asking for the owner of it, but he also knew he was too lazy for it, and hell, if the cat knew how to get into his apartment, it surely knew how to get back to where it came from. So with a sigh Soul just let it on the hall outside his door.

Since then he tried to check that the windows were firmly closed but either the cat knew how to open them regardless, or he wasn't as good as closing windows as he thought he was.

The cat managed to get in a few times more, and he even got to find out who the owner was, a blonde that lived a couple doors down and who left the block around the same time from him. It was one of those times when he got to see said cat inside her apartment, but decided not to say a thing, it wasn't like it was the end of the world, and he had hoped his precautions worked.

But now, after a day having to deal with people nonstop, his family and some of their friends included, Soul was more than fed up with the world and didn't doubt to turn on his heels and head to that girl's apartment.

Two knocks and a few curses under his breath later the door opened.

Fuck, she was cute.

And she had the biggest eyes he had ever seen.

"Can I help you?"

Big eyes or not, his shitty day was still a shitty day, and her cat had defiled his fridge for the umpeteth time.

"Yeah, control your cat."

"I beg your pardon?" Her eyes squinted. Apparently she didn't like her cat-controlling capacities being questioned.

"Your cat. It's been almost a month in which it had been ravashing my fridge."

"Wha-?" She turned and looked inside, Soul guessed that towards the cat. "Oh God, I'm so sorry. That explains why she had gotten so fat lately."

He bet it did.

"Has she eaten a lot or made much mess? I can pay for it. And I'll make sure she doesn't continue wandering around."

The big eyes were back on him and he kinda felt weird, because there was so much concern there for something, he had to admit, wasn't that bad, and he hadn't dealt with people concerned about him for a while. Or at least not in the "I'll do what I can for you" way.

"Uh, no, it's fine. I'll just clean it all. Figured it wouldn't be good for her to keep wandering around."

Yeah, because he had been so worried about the cat welfare…

"Are you sure?" She bit her lips and looked him up and down. They were nice lips. And was she checking him out? "I can invite you to coffee if you want. As an apologize."

Soul looked at her incredulous before a grin broke into his face.

"That sounds good, uh…"

"Maka, Maka Albarn." She provided, a little bit hurried.

"Soul, Soul Evans."

He awkwardly shifted his weigh from foot to foot. Was he supposed to say something or…?

"So, uh, see you tomorrow for coffee?" Maka asked, looking behind her bangs. He definitely had to be careful with her, because she was way too cute for his own good.

"Yeah. See you." He returned back to his own apartment and almost forgot about the mess. At least until he saw it again and had to clean it.


	10. Tarantism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Tarantims-The urge to overcome melancholy by dancing. Two weeks had passed since the defeat of Asura, and life for Maka Albarn still felt like life was something nebulous.  
> Ratted: K

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scales send me this prompt on tumblr. I don't know how to feel about this, but I hope you like it eitherway ^^

Two weeks had passed since the defeat of Asura, and life for Maka Albarn still felt like life was something nebulous.

It was the first time it happened to her, and it had been something gradual, that had crept without her knowledge, taking advantage of her tiredness, of the multitude of meetings and speeches she had to participate in. She was used to regret, to fear, she was used to missions, battles and news that left her drained physically and psychologically. But never before had she felt as disconnected with the rest of the world as she did now.

Life had become monotonous, and it was hard for her to keep in touch with it. It wasn't usual for her mind to drift off somewhere else and someone (usually Soul) had to snap their fingers or tap her so she would return.

No, this definitely was not normal for her, but it couldn't exactly be considered something bad, could it?  
She also found herself thinking about old times a lot. Times when her family was still one, when she was still taller than Soul and they couldn't resonate to save their lives, when the world seemed bigger and her life eternal.

Maka would lie if she said she didn't miss those times.

Everything was simpler. Or at least it seemed like it was.

Maybe that was why Soul had started trying to keep physical touch with her more now, because he had realised how her eyes were more focused when his hand was on hers, or maybe it just was his way to remind himself that yes, they were both alive and they still had they futures. Either way, Maka was grateful for those little touches; they helped her remain attached to Earth and be, even slightly, focused on the present.

She was pretty sure that without Soul her mind would have gotten lost wherever it went long ago.

But her favourite times, without a doubt, was when one of both would put some of Soul's vinyls and they would sway on their living room, with care not to bump into the furniture, her hands on his shoulders and his on her hips, holding on each other as if making sure neither would leave, neither would vanish and they would wake from their dream, grateful for the warmth they provided and the home they've found in each other.

It was in those moments, when she didn't mind if her mind drifted of the rest of the world, because the only thing that mattered was in front of her.


	11. Waterfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Summary: Soul and Maka start to get desperate after taking a mission that shouldn't be so difficult.  
> Ratted: T

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This time a prompt send by Nessie on tumblr "So I found this waterfall..." + "It could be worse" This turned out to be way longer than expected and I no longer now what to think of it. Eitherway it's finally finished, so here, have this dorks being impulsive.

Maka let out a groan and tightened her grip on Soul. This mission was proving to be infuriating and she knew that, for once, she was going to enjoy slicing through the pre kishin.

The damn creature was fast, way too fast, and the only reason they were positive this wasn't one of Black*Star's or even Patty's pranks was because she had felt it's rotten soul. They still hadn't been able to see it, though.

It seemed to be playing with them, making the partners wander through the forest in random patterns, only to disappear when it seemed they were about to catch it. What's more, it lead them to their almost dead more than a few times, and in the latest one Maka had to admit she was still alive thanks to her partner.

"Death fucking damnit." With a kick to the wall and a swing of Soul she managed to jump over the blushes that hid the beginning of the cliff.

Once her feet where back on solid ground, Soul let out the air that he was holding. "Let's go back to the cabin. The sun is starting to go down."

Everything around them was already getting bathed in oranges and blacks. Soon i't'd be hard to move around without knocking into one of the roots, trees, bushes or rocks that surrounded them.

Retreating was the logical and safest option, and Maka knew it, even if it frustrated her. "We are going to find it." She promised. "We are going to find it and we will kill it and you better enjoy chomping on its soul."

Her step was firm and confident— she was good at orientation in the wild, and after two days on the forest, they were starting to have an accurate idea of it— and they soon were back to the little cabin they had been assigned. It wasn't much, but apparently that was exactly what the tourists who rented it looked for. With no business thanks to the pre kishin the owner had had no objections on lending it.

After getting inside and closing the door, Soul transformed, stretching his sore muscles after spending so long in weapon form. "I'll call Lord Death, you go take a shower." He knew quite well how his meister was when frustrated and that admitting failure to their boss was not going to help her.

After a bit of grunting on her side and a bit of convincing from his, he managed to shoo her to the bathroom. The talk with Lord Death was not particularly funny, most of all with Spirit besides him suggesting it was his fault and demanding to see Maka, but he managed to do the report. Oh well, at least not came the cooking, which for some reason he found oddly calming.

With the noise of the shower as background he began chopping, slicing and stirring and when Maka came out in a cloud of midst and changed into her pajamas he was already serving dinner.

He headed towards the shower, not before reminding her not to start eating without him. He might have the fame of eating a lot (and he wasn't going to deny that) but when they had long missions or had an exam to prepare for Maka won by a landslide.

Fortunately for him when he reappeared wearing his pajamas the food was still untouched and Maka was fumbling with the first aid kit. The girl might be flexible as hell, but bandaging herself was still a challenge in certain parts.

"Let me." He said, sitting next to her and swatting her hands away from the bandages. The cut is not too deep, but it's long and it will definitely leave a nice scar to match the ones that mark the rest of her body.

"I think it is from when I fell from the tree. There were some sharp rocks on the ground, but I'm not too sure."

"Yeah, you were too busy shouting to the damn pre kishin to check if you were injured." His voice was low and he wasn't sure if he loved or hated that quality of her.

"It's frustrating." Soul could feel the pout on her voice and only grunted in agreement. Another time he might have chuckled, because a pouty Maka was a cute Maka, but this assignment was really starting to get on both of them.

The rest of the night was mostly spent in silence, the anger and frustration heavy on the small cabin.

He woke up sobresaltado in the middle of the night, and he didn't know what was going on until he heard shuffling on the bed next to his.

Maka's bed.

As fast as he could he switched on the nightstand lamp and watched the two figures roll around the room.

"Maka!" He croaked out. She only acknowledged him with a grunt and a punch into the pre kishin's face, successfully breaking its nose. The creature panicked then, and squirmed its way out of Maka's range, getting out throught the window.

"After it!" Soul scrambled, going after his meister, who had already jumped off the window. He cursed under his breath because running at night in a forest was far from the best idea they've ever had. Yet here they were.

He is fairly surprised and proud of how long he had managed to run after them (because no, Maka would not wait for him to transform and carry him, damn that impatiente woman) before his foot meets a root and he falls face first into the floor.

The bad news where that he was going down on a hill, so he becomes some kind of snowball that just rolls and rolls his way down. The good news are that he had managed to catch up with Maka. Even if he finds with a sharp pain that his right arm is broken.

"Soul!" Maka ceases her persecution to get next to him. "Shit, I should have carried you. Stay here, I'll back in a few." The flash of her green eyes, who looked closer to black now in the darkness is the last thing he sees before she flew, still running after their prey.

"Wait! Maka!" He stumbles up, ready to follow her, because hell would freeze over before he even lets her get near any kind of pre kishin weaponless, but she's way faster and he soon loses her track.

Cursing blonde meisters and elusive monsters alike he forces himself to sit, praying to any kind of god there is for Maka to come back all right.

What seemed that ages later he heards someone getting close, and the warmth of Maka's soul. "Maka Albarn, I swear if you ever do something like that again I'll make sure we are stuck on desk duty for a whole month." He greets between clenched teeth as her form moves closer.

"It wasn't really clever or me." She admits kneeling close to him. "How is your arm?"

"Broken." If the pain wasn't giving him a bad time he might have admired the way the light from the moon and the shadows danced on her skin, but alas, he had other things in his mind.

"No shit, Sherlock." She careful moved his arm, examining his arm. "So, I found this waterfall… I'm pretty sure that's where it had been hiding itself all the time, it had some weird symbols that I think blocked its wavelength."

"Are you kidding me right now, Maka? I can't transform with a broken arm, and you know it. Not to mention is night, and you want to go to a waterfall barefoot?" Where did he got the notion his meister was clever? He had no idea because some of her plans, mostly when she was desperate and or tired, where the craziest he has ever listened.

"I've already pretty much finished him off, we just need to cut it so you can eat its soul." Her tone was defensive and made Soul sigh, he was way too soft with her, for he stood up and glared at her. "Where is this waterfall to talk about?"

It turned out it wasn't that far away, the rumbling sound announcing it's presence way before they even got to see sneak peaks of it. And, true to Maka's words, there was a cave behind it, which had been fun to get into (or more like hell, damn stupid wet round rocks and barefeet), filled with weird symbols and, in a corner, illuminated by the soft light of a camping fas, the reason why they've been stuck on this stupid mission for two days.

Upon seeing them, it launched itself foward, only to be stopped by one of Maka's kicks. Soul wasted not time transforming his good arm into a blade and cutting through its still flying form.

It almost feel surreal that it was over, and he chomped down the corrupted soul, only to smile one full of razor sharp teeth to Maka. She returned it, before tugging on his arm.

"Let's go back, inform about this and deal with your arm."

"That sounds good." Soul yawned, his tiredness finally catching up with him. "Though you are gonna have to make it up to me for getting my arm broken."

She turned, and for a moment Soul was positive he was going to get some kind of snarky reply (thank God the Maka-chops were almost over, unless he did something really really stupid) but instead he got an "I'm pretty sure I can come up with something" accompanied with a look he did not know how to interpret, not did he wanted to delve too much into, because certain waters were definitely dangerous.


End file.
